Brett's Is Gone. What Comes Next at the Foot of Centre Street?

According to the Fernandina Beach News-Leader, the excavator went for a bush first. Then it pulled pieces off the entryway and the roof of Brett's Waterway Cafe while a crowd watched on a Wednesday morning in late October. The work was originally set to start Monday, Oct. 26. The News-Leader reported that wind gusts near 40 mph pushed it back.

The city isn't planning a new restaurant for that spot. What replaces Brett's at 1 S. Front St. is a public pier lined up with Centre Street, plus an open view of the Amelia River that the building blocked for decades. For the first time since 1984, the foot of Centre Street has no restaurant on the water. The city is turning it into public ground, and the holiday calendar between now and New Year's Eve will be the first real chance to use it that way.

Four decades as the only table on the river

Brett's opened in 1984. For 41 years it sat over the river at the foot of Centre Street, and the Fernandina Observer describes it as "the city's lone restaurant on the river." Before Brett's, the site held the Tee-Pee, also called the Welcome Station teepee.

The city owned the waterfront property, and the restaurant was its tenant. In July 2021, the city's marine engineer declared the structure under the building unsafe and cited the active collapse of a concrete double-tee member that held the restaurant up over the river. Brett's served its last meals on Oct. 4, 2025.

Part of the trouble was older than Brett's. At a July city commission presentation, Passero Associates CEO Andrew Holesko said concrete from the earlier structure was never removed. The Observer quoted him: "When the city demolished the teepee and built Brett's, it didn't take out the concrete structure ... that's actually what's been falling into the river for decades." So taking out the building is only the first step. The concrete underneath has to go too.

What $12.58 million puts there instead

Tearing down Brett's is the opening phase of a $12.58 million rebuild of Fernandina Harbor Marina, which the Observer calls the largest capital construction project in the city's history. On July 21, the City Commission voted 5-0 to award a contract of about $9.66 million to Baker Consulting & Engineering LLC, which does business as Baker Design Build. The city is targeting completion on Dec. 3, 2027.

The plan started as a demolition. It grew once engineers found that the marina's aging supports over the water also needed replacing. Here is what's in the scope:

The existing timber pier stays until the new one is built. Then it comes out so floating docks E and F can be reconnected without long interruptions to marina operations.

The city expects surprises below the waterline. Deputy City Manager Glenn Akramoff told commissioners, as the Observer reported, "We are going to find things that we don't necessarily know about. Even though we told them (contractors) to plan, there are going to be some change orders." The budget carries a 15% contingency for the high-risk seawall excavation and 10% for the rest of the project.

The restaurant the plan left out

The city surveyed the public about what should replace Brett's. Respondents showed substantial interest in another waterfront restaurant, along with a pier and a pavilion. With limited funding, the plan approved in July focuses on public access, the pier and the marina's aging infrastructure. No replacement restaurant is included. Money for the rebuild comes from borrowed funds, Community Redevelopment Agency money, parking revenue, marina operations and state grants. That includes a $7 million Pinnacle Bank loan the commission accepted unanimously in November 2025.

A separate riverfront dining proposal is working through review on its own track. The Observer reported that the Historic District Council gave the Amelia Wharf restaurant and retail complex conceptual approval in September, on its third time before the board. The council attached conditions requiring changes to the building's architectural character, its 63-foot tower and its roofline before final approval. It isn't part of the city's marina project.

Brett's is the second piece of the old working waterfront to come down in 2026. The former Atlantic Seafood Bait & Tackle building beside the public boat ramp was demolished Feb. 3. And Amelia River Waterfront Park opened along Front Street in April. The city's 2024 bid for the park described about 2.3 acres with a multi-use pavilion and restrooms. In one year, the riverfront has gone from mostly commercial buildings to mostly public space.

Getting around while it's fenced

City officials have said the marina will stay open throughout construction, with boats and services moved as the work goes on. Per the Amelia Island Signal's October report on the groundbreaking, here's what moved:

• Parking Lot A is fenced off and closed for construction staging.
• The Ship Store is now at 17 S. Front St., inside the former Boaters' Lounge, open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The Pirate Voyages ticket kiosk is in Parking Lot B. Amelia River Cruises is included in the city's relocation plans.
• Fuel is planned to come from a temporary barge between Docks A and B while the permanent fueling facilities are rebuilt.

The city's Marina Redevelopment page is the place to check for changes as work moves along the bulkhead.

The first holiday season on a public riverfront

The downtown tree lighting has been at the riverfront before. In 2024 it was at the foot of Centre Street, and in 2025 it was near the marina, both times from 4 to 6 p.m. with the tree lit at 6. This year it has a park on one side and a construction zone where Brett's used to be. Here is the calendar as listed:

1. Friday, Nov. 27: Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting, 4 to 6 p.m. at Waterfront Park, with holiday music and Santa. The merchants' Black Friday Pajama Party runs downtown the same day, and the white lights stay up from November into January.
2. Saturday, Dec. 5: Lighted Christmas Parade on Centre and Ash streets.
3. Thursday, Dec. 10: Tidings & Twinkle, a new free kickoff at Amelia River Waterfront Park from 5 to 7 p.m., with storytelling, live music, performances, a community marketplace and seasonal treats. A free trolley runs from Central Park from 5 to 7:30 p.m. You can pick up a paper lantern or glow wand there, plus your Dickens on Centre program.
4. Dec. 11 to 13: Dickens on Centre, the 12th annual festival. Fezziwig's Courtyard has been reimagined on the Welcome Center Train Station platform at the foot of Centre Street, with reserved tables, festive fare and live music. Market hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Free parking and trolleys run from Central Park on 11th Street.
5. Thursday, Dec. 31: New Year's Eve Shrimp Drop at 7 p.m., with fireworks over Fernandina Harbor Marina.

The festival organizers are direct about parking. The Dickens page says, "Parking is very limited downtown and many parking lots are unavailable for public parking." With Lot A closed for staging, the Central Park trolley runs on two of these nights.

The New Year's fireworks will go off over a marina that's partway through a rebuild. The next ones over the finished basin, if the Dec. 3, 2027 target holds, would come just weeks after the new pier opens straight off Centre Street.

The marina rebuild is a good example of how a riverfront building can look fine from the street while the structure under it has been failing for years. If you own property downtown and want to talk through how this project affects your block, or what to look for when a property sits close to the water, Chad Feuerhahn brings home-inspection training to those conversations. Let's Connect.